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Spring Cleaning for uPerform

Its spring time, time to move that snow blower out of the garage, pack up those winter coats, and clean out those overgrown flower beds. All those things that we have been putting off that will just make things better! Doing a little spring cleaning on your uPerform system is a good idea as well.

uPerform does a great job at keeping your authors organized and efficient. Using features like work flows, reporting, and glossary globalization, uPerform helps you get the most out of your Performance Support investment. But much like moving those snow boots out of the closet to make way for your spring sandals, there are some things in your uPerform system that can to be cleaned up to make your uPerform system ready for your new documents.

Here are a few uPerform spring cleaning suggestions from the Orange Army Customer Success team:

Delete any old or outdated source files from My Documents, Downloads, C: Drive, Desktop, or anywhere else you’ve opened source files from the server, made edits and checked back in. If you use the Get Latest Version option on the uPerform website to open documents, and just click the Save button, files are typically downloaded to your Windows Downloads folder by default. Try clicking the Save As.. option which lets you select a different folder. Another options is to use the uPerform client to open files instead, and then select a specific uPerform folder. Putting all of your uPerform source files in one specific local folder will help keep the multiple source file problem under control.

Check the Publishing Queue for anything that says Locked, or Failure and resolve.

Tip: Locked files can occur if a document is placed into the publishing queue and then added to a workflow before it gets published. Once the workflow is completed, the Document Locked message can be resolved by clicking Publish Now on the document in the Publishing Queue.

Check the Globalize Queue for any outdated or failed globalizations. The Globalize Queue can be accessed via Administration > Server Administration > Glossary > View Globalize Queue. You can use the Globalize Now option on individual items or Globalize All option to globalize everything in the queue at once.

Review the Unused or Undefined Terms in Glossary for any terms which are not being used or invalid. You can find these terms by looking under the Areas menu > Glossary. Unused Terms are terms that were added into Glossary (either through documents being checked-in, or via an import) that are currently not used in any documents. Undefined Terms are terms that may have been found during Glossary Globalization but never had a definition added.

Run the Workflow Status Report to look for any documents in Workflow that have not been completed within your expected time frame (for example, older than 90 days). You can create a modified version of the Workflow Status Report by using the Save Report As… option, then add a filter on the field name Workflow Start Date, Condition: Before, and then add the date you would like to see workflows which were created before that date.

Run the Task Status Report to look for expired tasks and remove or resend them. Similar to the Workflow Status Report, you can add a filter on the field name Task Due Date, Condition: Before and then specify a date you would like to see all tasks that were created before that date.

Review any custom reports for any reports that are no longer being used and verify they are needed, who is using them, and for what purpose. A best practice when creating new custom reports is to rename the report as it is being created to use a naming convention that identifies who is the owner of the report. Be sure to include a description that indicates the purpose of the report and the date it was originally created. This will make it easier for administrators to circle back next year during “uPerform Spring Cleaning” to see if the report is still needed or being used.

We hope these suggestions help keep your uPerform system running smooth and trouble free!

Note: You can find details about work flows, reporting, and glossary in the Managing Content with ANCILE uPerform manual available under the Help link in both the uPerform Client and Server, or on the ANCILE Intelligence Hub. As always, your Customer Success team is ready and willing to answer any questions, and help you with these suggestions.

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ANCILE uPerform®, ANCILE uPerform® Express, uAlign®, ANCILE uGuide™, ANCILE uLearn™, ANCILE Info Pak™ are registered or unregistered trademarks of ANCILE Solutions, Inc. in the U.S. and foreign countries. All other product and company names referenced herein are the registered or unregistered trademarks of their respective owners.